GROWTH is one of 17 projects awarded funding in 2015 by the National Science Foundation under the PIRE program managed by the NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering. Within this group, we are the third largest project in terms of participating international partners and the forth largest in terms of received funding.

The primary goal of PIRE (Partnerships for International Research and Education) is to support "high quality projects in which advances in research and education could not occur without international collaboration". Recognizing the essential role of international collaboration in tackling global challenges, PIRE seeks to increase international engagement in the U.S. science as well as offer opportunities to U.S. researchers and educators to learn to operate effectively in teams with partners from different national environments and cultural backgrounds. By funding program like GROWTH, PIRE aims to develop a diverse, globally-engaged, U.S. science and engineering workforce.

The GROWTH partners in Japan, Taiwan and India receive further financial support from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Taiwan's Ministry of Science & Technology (grant 1042923M008004MY5), and India's Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, respectively.